Former American tennis player Larry Nagler on why he thinks tennis is a ‘metaphor for life’

In a TEDx Talk in Boston, former American tennis player Larry Nagler sheds light on a very interesting aspect of the widely-played sport, one that offers a new perspective into what people can learn from it.
After giving a brief introduction of his career and elaborating a bit on how tennis has evolved over time, Nagler says that “Tennis, in my view, is really a metaphor for life. When you play a tennis match, even though it lasts an hour and a half or two hours or three hours depending upon your skill level and your enthusiasm… you are problem solving, you’re dealing with what you have to deal with, you’re learning to deal with stress because stress is put upon you constantly.”

He went on to elaborate a few aspects to further substantiate his view: “When you’re playing tennis.. you are learning the importance of endurance, you’re learning the importance of focusing on doing your personal best instead of just thinking about winning a match because if you think about winning a match, you aren’t going to win a match. When you’re playing tennis, you’re learning to control your mind, you’re learning to be unflinchingly honest with yourself because if you’re not, you can’t progress. You’re learning to lose, you’re learning what to do when you lose a very, very important thing in this life.”
Nagler also shares that in tennis, one can look into the soul of the opponent observing how they act under pressure because that is “exactly the way they are going to act under pressure in life.”
According to his experience in tennis and his life, it’s true that you can’t make perfect decisions all the time but once you understand that it’s not working for you, be it in a tennis match or in life, just ask yourself “is this the way I want to spend my life” and if isn’t, then change it.
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